April 26, 2013

ARTIST: Orchestra Super MazembeTITLE: Mazembe @ 45 RPM Vol. 1LABEL: Sterns
Super Mazembe was a popular Congolese export band: they left the Republic in 1970 in search of greener fields, spending time in Zambia and Tanzania before achieving major success in Kenya starting in 1977. This fine new album, compiled by Doug Paterson for Sterns, assembles nine of Super Mazembe’s best singles from the Kenyan years 1977 to 1979.

On last week's show, you heard some of the newest in Afro-tronica; this week, it's the latest and greatest cumbia-tronica: nueva cumbia from Palenke Soultribe, Raul Y Meixa, Systema Solar (pictured above) and more.

April 18, 2013

This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear a band whose debut album is merely 31 years late. The 1982 recording session of Senegal's Dieuf-Dieul De Thies (pictured above) never did get released back then; you can buy it for the first time on Record Store Day 2013.

ARTIST: Dieuf-Dieul De ThiesTITLE: Aw Sa Yone Vol. 1LABEL: Teranga Beat
The late 70s and early 80s was a time of great musical fertility in Senegal and Gambia, with bands like Etoile De Dakar, Orchestra Baobab and Guelewar all releasing seminal recordings. Apparently it was such a competitive environment that some outstanding combos never managed to release a single cassette.

April 12, 2013

ARTIST: BombinoTITLE: NomadLABEL: Nonesuch
Omara Moctar is a young (hence the Italian nickname) Tuareg guitarist, singer and bandleader who hails from Niger. Sublime Frequencies’ Guitars From Agadez series brought Bombino to the world’s attention, and his Western debut Agadez for Cumbancha and subsequent live appearances put him at the forefront of the desert blues explosion.

ARTIST: Oliver Mtukudzi & The Black SpiritsTITLE: SarawogaLABEL: Tuku Music
Oliver Mtukudzi is one of African music’s living legends. Mtukudzi’s recordings, along with those of his friendly rival Thomas Mapfumo, have introduced millions of non-Africans to the glorious popular music of Zimbabwe, largely derived from tunes played on the traditional mbira thumb-piano.

April 10, 2013

Spiteri (pictured above) was a band of Venezuelans living in London in the 1970's. For a brief moment, long enough to record one album but not much longer, they were England's answer to Santana. You'll hear them and some other guitar heroes on this week's edition of Global A Go-Go.

ARTIST: GraveolaTITLE: Eu Preciso De Um Liquidificador (I Need A Food Processor)LABEL: Mais Um Discos
Graveola (the band’s full name is Graveola e o Lixo Polifonico, or “Graveola and the Polyphonic Garbage”) is a new, young rock band from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Borrowing a phrase from the 1960’s tropicalistas, they call their sound “carnival-cannibalism,” and as you might expect Brazil’s indigenous psych-rock movement is a major influence on the band.

ARTIST: Kobo TownTITLE: Jumbie In The JukeboxLABEL: Stonetree / Cumbancha
Kobo Town is a Toronto-based band fronted by Canadian-Trinidadian calypsonian Drew Gonsalves. In the true calypso tradition, Gonsalves is a writer first and foremost, penning erudite rhymes that comment on news, the economic order and the human condition.

ARTIST: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni BaTITLE: Jama KoLABEL: Out|Here
Bassekou Kouyate is sometimes called the Jimi Hendrix of the ngoni, but I think he’s really the Earl Scruggs -- like Scruggs, he’s revolutionized the technique for playing his instrument, turning it into a vehicle for soloing where it had previously served a rhythm function.

April 4, 2013

The sound of Malian music in 2013 is edgy, aggressive, loud -- not surprising if your peaceful country has undergone a military coup, a fundamentalist assault and a foreign invasion all within the last year. This week on Global A Go-Go, you'll hear some current recordings coming out of Mali, including brand-new releases by Rokia Traore and by Bassekou Kouyate (pictured above in performance at the Richmond Folk Festival in 2011).

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GLOBAL A GO-GO'S HOST

... hosts Global A Go-Go, a weekly two-hour world music radio program that originates in the studios of WRIR 97.3 FM Richmond Independent Radio. Bill is also WRIR's Assistant Music Director for World Music.